After struggling earlier this season, St. Maria Goretti Gaels improved their free throw shooting on Sunday afternoon, going 13-for-15 to edge the McDonogh School Eagles 45-41 in a Baltimore Catholic League basketball game at the Gael Center.

"We came back from a tough loss at Calvert Hall on Friday night," Tanner said. "I think that we are just a tough team. We only shot 50 percent from the free throw line at Calvert Hall. But today, the foul shots were just going in. I think that we had the right people shooting the right free throws at the right time."

The score was tied at 37-37 with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Derrick Davis then turned a steal into a layup to snap the tie and give Goretti the lead for good. Josh Carter added a basket to stretch the Gaels' lead to four points.

Center Jazz Cowan, who scored a game-high 20 points, sank a pair of foul shots for McDonogh (9-4, 2-3) to reduce the deficit to two points.

Carter then made two huge free throws with 25 seconds to go in the game to extend Goretti's lead to 43-39.

Cowan kept McDonogh's slim hopes alive with a basket with six seconds left to cut the lead back to two points.

Tanner made two more free throws for the Gaels with two seconds remaining to seal the 45-41 victory.

Carter scored nine points and Matt Spierenburg blocked four shots for the Gaels. Davis added five assists and four steals, while Marcus Hudson had four assists and three steals for Goretti.

"After a sluggish first half, our full-court defense got us going in the second half," Goretti coach Cokey Robertson said. "We were able to cause turnovers. Our defense was feeding our offense during that stretch and that got us into the game."